This may be true — and it could be the guiding philosophy for the recent slew of iPhone and Android apps — but it doesn't solve the problem of Microsoft's smartphone hardware business which continues to make phones, spend money, and sell very little.

According to IDC, Microsoft has shrunk the market share of Windows-based phones from 3.1% to 2.6% since 2012. In the same period, Google has grown its Android market shares by 13%. It's clear that something is wrong.

The nuclear option for Microsoft would be to kill Windows Phone, stop selling Lumia handsets, and focus on making apps for iPhone and Android.

It's unclear how much it costs Microsoft to develop and manufacture Lumia devices, but the resources — of both time and money — could be allocated elsewhere, such as the Surface teams, which grew revenue by 29% to $1.4 billion (£950 million) in the past three months.

Microsoft has not killed the operating system yet and things have been bad for a while. Instead, the company has worked to close the "app gap" — where developers don't want to make Windows apps, leaving the Store bare — by merging it with Windows 10.

Option 2: Focus on business customers.

A Lumia 950XL.Microsoft

The one place that Microsoft is seeing some success is businesses, due to the close integration with Microsoft services (such as Office) and Windows 10.

The Lumia brand, however, has very little mindshare among businesses. Luckily, Microsoft has Surface which does, and the rumours that the "last Lumia" is coming soon suggest the company will transition its high-end phones away form Nokia's brand to its own Surface brand.

Option 3: Carry on as before.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella speaks to members of the media at a Microsoft event in San Francisco, California March 27, 2014.REUTERS/Robert Galbraith

It has been clear for a while that Windows Phone was not going to be a massive success. The operating system never went above 10% market share in major market (besides Britain) and has since decreased to low single-digit figures.

Despite this, Microsoft has continued to work on the operating system, pushing out updates and new handsets.

Last quarter, Microsoft made around $12 billion (£8.4 billion) from its business-focused services and so it could afford to ignore the problem and continue as before.

In this scenario, Microsoft still gets the benefit of having a smartphone operating system, but has none of the costs associated with making phones. (Not to mention the embarrassment when they sell badly.)

Option 5: Switch over to the Surface brand.

The Surface Book.Microsoft

Microsoft is creating an increasingly strong brand with the Surface, with sales up year-over-year. Lumia, however, has very little brand recognition in the US, which doesn't help sales.

Switching over to the Surface brand — and keeping the phones as a consumer product — could help re-launch Microsoft's phone business.

According to Google Trends, which measures the interest in a product, the Surface has been up since 2012, while Lumia is on the decline.

This strategy would also appease current Windows Phone users, many of whom are unsure about what Microsoft is going to do and where that leaves their preferred smartphone operating system.